Storage devices of various configurations for storing various objects are well-known in the art. A storage loop, for example, which serves to package safety pins or the like is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,979,049, issued to Patterson, on Oct. 30, 1934. The safety pin package is comprised of a ringlike member having a pair of ends which are disposed for abutting end-to-end relation. A separate keeper sleeve is required which emcompasses and retains the ends in abutting relation. A plastic storage loop in the form of a ring is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,432,870, entitled "Plastic Ring and Method of Making the Same," issued to Evalt, on Dec. 16, 1947, which is used for permanently connecting hotel key tags to room keys. Individual ring segments are cut from a plastic helical coil, and the ends of each segment are secured together, as by gluing, after the key and room tag are assembled to the segment. U.S. Pat. No. 1,286,501, entitled "Lap Ring or Link," issued to Bauer, on Dec. 18, 1918, discloses a storage ring for watch chains or jewelry. The ring includes separate ends each of which are precision machined to include a longitudinally disposed arm having an enlarged extremity provided with a lug extending away from the very end surface of each end portion of the ring. The spacing between the opposed face of one end portion of the arm serves as a receptacle for the lug of the other end portion to provide for interlocking the ends of the ring. As can be seen, such structure requires intricate machining done to very close tolerances. Such required machining operations are time consuming and expensive.
Other loop members are known which serve other than storage purposes. One such loop member is used for attaching a towel to golf bags. This particular device is too small to store any objects thereon and is only useful to receive a grommet attached to the towel or the like thereon. Nor is this device practical as a socket wrench storage device since each of the ends are provided with substantially different radiuses which would prevent socket wrenches from being slid around the end portions without binding. Such sliding movement is necessary for the positioning of a predetermined socket wrench adjacent to the interlocking ends so that a particular selected socket wrench may be removed without the need to remove other socket wrenches from the body of the storage device.
It should be noted that none of the above patents disclose a loop storage member for socket wrenches as described herein having mating end portions which are readily secured together by a radial outwardly biasing force of one end member. Nor does the prior art suggest that such a loop storage member may be particularly useful for storing socket wrenches in an orderly end-to-end fashion thereon, whereby it is only necessary to slide the desired (needed) socket wrench to a position adjacent to the joined ends of the ring member and separate the joined ends of the ring member for removal of the desired socket wrench only, such separation being accomplished by pressing one end portion of the ring storage member radially inwardly by one's hand.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,750,011; 2,219,721; and 4,497,405 relate to holders for wrench sockets or the like. However, none of these patents disclose a single member (loop holder) that would allow removal of a specific item from the loop holder without removal of some of the other items.